“Help Mina up and have her sit on the sofa.”
I gave the maids an order, averting my gaze from Camilla. The maids exchanged surprised glances.
“On the sofa…?”
They seemed confused about whether it was appropriate to have a ‘mere mixed-race maid’ sit on the Grand Duchess’s sofa. Camilla seemed to be thinking the same thing. Her pale cheeks trembled.
“Your Highness, that’s going too far! That sofa is where you and I often have conversations. How can you let a vulgar mutt like her…”
I looked Camilla directly in the eyes and ordered the maids again with more force.
“Right now, have Mina sit on the sofa.”
This time, the maids no longer hesitated. Mina, who was helped onto the sofa, groaned in pain.
‘How much did they torment her…’
Mina’s hair was a mess, and her eyes were swollen. The most serious thing was her swollen, bright red hand. The steaming teapot, the tea spilled on the floor, and the whip… I deduced the situation and ground my teeth quietly.
‘Cruel human. No, the word ‘human’ is too good for her.’
I slowly clenched my fist.
“Check how much tea is left in the teapot.”
At my words, a maid checked the inside of the teapot.
“About half is left, Your Highness.”
I took the teapot from the maid and held it out to Mina. “Mina, I know it’s hard, but could you do me a favor?”
Mina nodded slightly. I leaned in close and whispered what I wanted her to do in her ear.
“What? But Your Highness, why would you…?”
Mina blinked her eyes in confusion. I gave her a little wink and continued, “I’ll take care of everything, so don’t worry about what comes after and just do as I asked.”
Mina hesitated for a moment, then accepted the teapot. She closed her eyes, mumbled something, and handed me the teapot with a determined expression.
“Here, Your Highness.”
I took the teapot with a villainous smile. “Thank you, Mina. Now, as a reward, I’ll show you a proper spectacle.”
I then began to slowly walk toward Camilla. As if she had subconsciously felt threatened, Camilla’s face turned completely pale.
“W-What is that, Your Highness?”
Looking at Camilla, I subtly curved the corners of my eyes.
“I’m just a little upset that you were the only one having fun, Camilla.”
“What? What do you…?”
“You just arbitrarily destroyed a servant I hold dear.”
“…”
“So, it would be a fair calculation for me to destroy something of yours, wouldn’t it?”
I curled up the corners of my lips and looked down at Camilla leisurely. In a final act of desperation, she closed her eyes tightly and shouted, “Your Highness! Why are you doing this to me all of a sudden! I… I really don’t know why!”
“…You don’t know why?”
At Camilla’s shameless words, my heart began to boil again. I took a long breath to calm myself, but my efforts were in vain as soon as I looked at Camilla’s face again.
“You really don’t know why, Camilla?”
“I don’t! I really don’t know!”
Camilla’s arms were held by the maids and she was on her knees, but her eyes were still defiant. “I am Camilla! The Countess of Dimitri! No matter if you are the Grand Duchess, I am not someone you can treat so carelessly!”
“…You don’t have to say that. I know who you are better than anyone.”
I even know the huge secret that you’re having an affair with your friend’s husband. The kind-hearted female lead, Lobelia, needed the male lead Cedric’s help to get revenge on you, but…
‘I’m not that easy.’
A leisurely sneer escaped my lips.
Villainess versus mad dog. Who will be the winner of this fight? One thing was for sure: I was not the loser today.
But the foolish Camilla continued to get veins on her neck.
“If you stop now, I’ll pretend this never happened. But…”
“But what?”
“If you continue, I will consider this an act of war against me, Camilla Dimitri, forever!”
“Oh, really?”
“And from then on, I will resign from my position as your maid and my position as your best friend!”
The corners of Camilla’s lips curled up with confidence. “You, better than anyone, know what it means to go against me, Camilla, in the Northern social circles, don’t you?”
Camilla seemed to think she had the upper hand with those words. I sneered and slowly bent down toward her.
“…A person’s true character is revealed when they feel they are useful to someone.”
Then, I looked her in the eyes up close and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Depending on the choice they make, people are divided into two paths.”
As I put a little more force into my hands, Camilla’s face became paler and paler.
“The person who is happy just because they are useful to someone, and…”
“…”
“…The person who tries to use that to their advantage.”
Camilla’s golden eyes widened greatly at my chilling voice.
‘Such a shame that a socialite star’s true feelings are so transparent.’
I stood up from my bent position and looked down at Camilla nonchalantly.
“People who fall into the latter category always seem to overlook the fact that their position can be replaced at any time.”
“…”
“…How foolish.”
Camilla began to shift her eyes around nervously. I gave her a leisurely smirk.
“On that note, let me ask you one thing. If we become enemies, will the one who’s at a disadvantage be me, the Grand Duchess?”
“…”
“Or will it be you, the Countess of Dimitri, a socialite star who might have risen magnificently but could fall just as miserably?”
Camilla’s eyes widened so much they looked like they would tear. Her face looked as if she had received a tremendous shock.
How much fun she must have had, leading every situation until now.
“Be careful, Camilla.”
She must have never imagined that she would end up in this situation. Her empty, unfocused eyes spoke for her state of mind.
“The higher you climb, the more miserable the fall.”
Whoosh.
I whistled, raised my index finger high in the air, and made a gesture of dropping it down. Then I immediately looked down at the teapot.
“The teapot is still warm, so you must have had the tea water brought in very hot.”
“…”
“But the tea water has already cooled down too much to be poured on you, so there was nothing I could do.”
“Your, Your Highness…”
“…Except for adding poison.”
Camilla’s jaw trembled as if she had a chill. I took one step closer to her.
“Don’t worry, just in case. No one will know that I did it. The poison can’t be detected in the human world. Mina made it herself.”
“Your Highness, p-please don’t…!”
“Open her mouth.”
Camilla’s shameless face contorted with fear.
“L-Let go… Let go of me!”
Camilla thrashed and struggled, held down by the maids.
“Your Highness, please don’t do this! I… I did wrong! If you want me to bow before you, I will. I’ll even… ”
Camilla paused for a moment and glared at Mina with a look of resentment.
“I’ll even apologize if you want me to. So please, spare my life, Your High… Ugh!”
However, the human Camilla was no match for the strength of the mixed-race demons. Her mouth was forced open by the maids, and Camilla’s eyes widened with terror.
“I have no intention of letting Mina receive your pathetic apology. I have even less intention of giving you the chance to apologize with dignity.”
“Ugh…”
“All I want is for you to feel the exact same feeling that Mina felt.”
With those words, I poured the tea water directly into Camilla’s mouth.
“No, I don’t… Gulp…!”
Camilla struggled, her jaw held by the maids. I poured every last drop of the tea water into her mouth. The moment I put down the empty teapot, Camilla, finally freed from her restraints, began to writhe on the floor like a madwoman.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Ugh…! Ugh!”
Camilla kept shoving her fingers down her throat. It seemed she intended to throw up the tea water. But when that didn’t work, she tore at her hair and continued to scream.
“N-No… No, I don’t want to die! Aaaah!”
A terrified Camilla rolled around on the floor, and her dress, which had been radiating a brilliant golden light, was now as tragically ruined as she was.
Her eyes, filled with fear and madness, then turned to Mina. When their eyes met, Camilla dragged her dress and crawled to Mina’s feet.
“S-Save me!”
Camilla, who was prostrate on the floor and holding onto Mina’s skirt, gasped for breath desperately.
“The… antidote! You have the antidote, right?”
“…”
“I’m sorry! I’m serious, okay? So please, save me…”
Camilla begged like a madwoman. Mina, startled by her appearance, tried to pull her skirt out of Camilla’s grip.
“L-Let go of me…”
“I’m sorry! I… I’m serious!”
Camilla pleaded with Mina continuously. But when she didn’t get the answer she wanted, she immediately glared at her with the whites of her eyes showing and screamed, “I said I’m sorry! I said I’m sorry! How much more do I have to beg for just that little thing?!”
Camilla shouted in rage. But then she seemed to realize her mistake and shook her head, her face turning pale.
“N-No, that’s not it! I’m really sorry! So please…”
Camilla stopped speaking and bowed her head to Mina’s feet. Then she began to cry loudly like a child.
“Please save me… I’m sorry, I… I was so wrong. I was so wrong… I’m so sorry… Please save me, okay…?”
The more desperate Camilla’s apology became, the more her face was a mess. Her shiny black hair was a tangled mess, and black tears streamed from her eyes. It was a spectacle. Camilla, with her forehead on the floor, began to make a pleading apology that was close to a shriek.
“I’m sorry. Everything was my fault! So please… I really don’t want to die…!”
Mina, whose heart seemed to be weakening, looked at me, and I nodded at her.
“…Alright. I’ll accept your apology.”
Mina’s eyes were still cold as she said that. However, Camilla’s eyes gleamed as if she had found a ray of hope.
“R-Really? Then you’ll give me the antidote now, right?”
At that, Mina looked down and shook her head.
“No, I can’t do that.”
“W-Why not?”
“I’m very sorry, but I don’t have an antidote.”
“…What are you talking about? You-You don’t have an antidote? That’s not true, is it?”
Camilla asked back desperately, as if she were holding on to her last straw. But all that came back was silence. Camilla’s face, stained with black tears, trembled.
“T-That’s not true, is it…?”
